Brothers Know Best – Day 5 FFF 2012

The Salt of Life is about a lonely man. Gianni, retired and middle-aged, is transparent to woman, not that it should matter because he’s married. His friend convinces him he can still have a romantic relationship with other woman and he becomes somewhat obsessed to find a girlfriend or lover. This film had some funny parts but overall I agree with the comments I heard from the audience after the film which was it was a very “slow movie” and “I was bored 90% of the time.” I wish I could write more, but the movie was really just okay.

The line of people waiting for The Brookyln Brothers

After The Salt of Life, I planned on seeing Shorts #1: “It Takes Two.” When I got outside the theatre, I looked at the line that was forming for The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best and I switched my gears. This was the first film, besides opening night, that I saw the line wrapped around and people waiting to get in. Despite an extremely annoying man chewing on his ice in front of me the whole movie, this was the best film I’ve seen at this year’s FFF. The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best was brilliant and funny. The only thing I didn’t like about the film was the one editing error I saw towards the beginning of the film when Alex, the main character, destroyed his phone.

Ryan O'Nan, Director, Writer, and Actor

After the film we had a Q & A session with Ryan O’Nan, the director, writer, and star of the film. He was extremely down to earth and funny; he even dropped the f*bomb three times. The film was sponsored through private equity, filmed solely in Maryland, cost a total of $625,000 and took just 18 days to film. Ryan said “I wrote it [the film] for myself.” When it came down to casting, “a lot of people said ‘no,’ which is always hard.” He went on to say “everything I’ve ever done, I learned through books.” He believes if you’re passionate about something just “push your way through it. Go after it and live; put your life into it.”

Ryan was in a band for 4½ years that toured the country. Because of the movie, he’s proud to say “we’re a band now and got a record deal through Warner Brothers Music.” This probably had to do with the fact that he wrote a majority of the songs for the film.

I couldn’t have been happier to see this film and it’s rated #1 on my 2012 FFF list. Unfortunately, tonight was the second showing of the film, so if you missed it, you missed a great film.